Cupola tuyere gates with integral downward deflectors



Feb. 14, 1956 N. EVEN CUPOLA TUYERE GATES WITH INTEGRAL DOWNWARDDEF'LECTORS Filed Jan. 5, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet l I N VENTOR McHoLas Eve"-I dhiuM/ k A a ATTORNEYS F b. 14, 1956 N. EVEN 2,734,738

CUPOLA TUYERE GATES WITH INTEGRAL DOWNWARD DEFLECTORS Filed Jan. 5. 19523 Sheets-Shget 2 i E2731 2 7 I I 20 ii n E s lb 2! 3 L W ll-Iu \\\\\\\\s35 1 34 INVENTOR Nacuoms E'vc'm BY M ud ATTORNEYS N. EVEN Feb. 14. 1956CUPOLA TUYERE GATES WITH INTEGRAL DOWNWARD DEFLECTORS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3Filed Jan. 5, 1952 .IIIII-Illl Illl'llll I.

INVENTOR N cHoms Eve OMQW ATTORNEY United States Patent CUPOLA TUYEREGATES WITH INTEGRAL DOWNWARD DEFLECTORS Nicholas Even, Excelsior, Minn.

Application January 5, 1952, Serial No. 265,177

9 Claims. (Cl. 266-41) This invention relates to improvements in tuyeresfor cupolas and similar furnace equipment, used for melting iron andanalogous purposes. The invention herein disclosed is similar in somerespects to that in my prior application Serial No. 173,780, filed July14, 1950, now Patent No. 2,602,661, to which attention is invited forcomparative purposes. v V

The usual cupola includes inner and outer casing wall-s, between whichthere is defined a wind belt supplying air for combustion, and withinthe inner wall there is a refractory lining about the combustion andmelting chamber. It is customary to provide tuyeres for supplying andregulating the air for combustion, and it is in connection with thesetuyeres that I am here concerned. I have found, as disclosed in myearlier application, that the direction of the air, particularly fromupper tuyeres, downward into the combustion chamber will have a verybeneficialeflect providing a faster melting rate, efiecting a saving infuel and delivering the molten metal at a higher temperature. Inaddition, this downward flow of air from the upper tuyeres prevents thebridging of slag over the lower tuyeres, which is a problem of longstanding in the'foundry industry. It is believed that such bridgingoccurs .dueto the fact that air travels upwardly around the massofnnaterial in the combustion chamber and :tends to .cool the materialadjacent the lower tuyeres to a degree such that it will harden andclose oil these tuyeres, making it necessary all too frequently toobtain entrance into the lower .tuyeres and thrust a tool therethroughto break up the accumulated, hardened material. Actually, of course, itwill be understood that the material does not harden in thestrictestsense of the word, but it does assume what maybe called a tatfy-likeconsistency sufiicient to .give trouble. -I find, however, that the useof my improved upper tuyeres, which tend to direct the air downward,will cause the interruption of this upward air -flow adjacent and aroundthe inside of the cupola lining, so that the material is not cooled anddoes not bridge across the mouths of the :lower tuyeres, and with thefurther result that better combustionis provided.

In my earlier application I disclosed a tuyere construction wherein thedraft through the tuyere housing or box was controlled by a pair ofswinging draft :gates, each provided with an angularly set vane or-fin-in. such manner that as the gates were opened these vanes would beplaced in the .path of the air rushing through .the tuyere and woulddeflectthe air in a downward, inward direction. -My present inventionincludes the same general arrangement-of the tuyere gates and vanes, butit is the primary object to improve the mounting of these gatesso thatthey may beoperated more conveniently and-to so arrange the gates that amore complete and definitecontrol overthe .air flow may be accomplished.In fact, with the gatesof my present invention it is possible tocompletely 'shut off the air flowthrough the tuyere, orto-opentheitu-yere box to substantially unimpeded air flow, thus providing .themecessaryflexibilityof control.

It is another object of my present invention to provide ice . 2 a tuyereconstruction in which the tuyere housing or box is divided into innerand outer sections positioned respectively inwardly and outwardly'of theinside casing wall of the cupola. The tuyere gates and their controlsare'mounted wholly'within the-outer box section so that these parts areisolated as far as possible from the extremely high temperaturesexisting within the cupola, while the inner box section is an extremelysimple casting supported in the refractory lining. and having no directmechanical connection to the outer parts of the tuyere. It will, ofcourse, be appreciated that this inner section of the tuyere box will intime be burned to the point where it must be replaced, but this improvedarrangement will perrnit such replacement very simply and inexpensively.

Another object .of my invention is to provide an improved inspectiondoor and frame for cooperative'use with the tuyere, with provision forextending the tuyere gate control to the outside of the cupola forconvenient operation. This structure includes an inspection door, whichmaybe very easily opened and swung aside to clear an opening inwardlyinto the cupola in line with the tuyere for adjustment or inspection, aswell as to remove bridging if such should occur.v .All presentcorresponding doors for this purpose are simply bolted in place on theouter casing wall of the cupola, and it is found that they have apronounced. tendency to warp, permitting air loss from the wind beltand, in addition, they are very difiicult to open for tuyere inspection.This problem is, of .course,.complicated by the fact that the partsbecome quite hot in operation and also by the fact that the doors standat a substantial elevation above the base of the cupola, making itnecessary for the operator to climb a ladder and remove the door and ineach case make another :tn'p down the ladder in .orderzto place the dooraside while work is beingudone through the opening. According to myinvention. the inspection doors are hinged so that they .may beswunguasideout of the-way and in addition the doors are slidablymounted, with a wedge fit to their frames, in such fashion that theywill not warp and :buckle,.as;is thetcase with present constructions.

These and other more detailed and specific objects will be disclosed in:the course of the following specification, reference being-had :to .theaccompanying drawings, in which- Fig. .1 is a plan view of a tuyere andinspection door according to my invention, showing fragments of thecupola casing walls and refractory lining. The tuyere .gatesareahereshown as fully closed.

Fig. 2 is .avertical sectional 'view taken along the line 22 in Fig. 1but withthe :tuyere gates in the open position and illustrating theaction of the vanes on the gates in directing the air inward anddownward into the cupola.

Fig. 3 :is a horizontal sectional view along the line 3-3 in Fig. 2 butwith the .gates in a partially open po- 'sition.

Fig. 4 is an :outside elevational view of the inspection .door and frame:takenalong the line 4-4in Fig. '1 and illustrating in Ybroken lines themanner 'in which the door :is opened and swung-aside.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view along the line 5-5 in Fig.4.

Fig. '6 "is an end or edge view along the line 6-45 in Fig. 4.

Referring now more particularly and by reference characters to thedrawing, A and Bdesignaterespectively thelinnerand ,outer casingvwallsof a .conventional cupola and which are .of any :conventionalconstruction, being here. for conveniencesake .shown simply as. ofsheetmetal. Ihese walls are spaced apart to provide an intervening windbelt .or jacket .C, from which-air is admitted to the interior of thecupola for combustion purposes, and the interior of the inner wall A isprovided with the usual refractory lining D.

My improved tuyere is designated generally at E and the same comprises ahousing made up of inner and outer sections or boxes and 11 which may beconveniently cast, each in a separate piece, from any suitable material.The inner housing section 10 has upper and lower walls 12 and 13connected by side walls 14 forming a boxlike construction open frominner to outer ends, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3. This section 10 ofthe tuyere box, in accordance with my invention, is seated against theinterior of the inner cupola wall A over an opening F in said wall, sothat air from the wind jacket C will, of necessity, pass through the boxin entering the interior of the cupola. The walls 14 diverge in aninward direction and the top wall 12 has its under surface 15 angledinward and downward, as seen in Fig. 2, to assist in the downwarddirection of the combustion air, as will be presently described. It willbe noted that this housing section 10 is not actually secured to thewall A and it is sufiicient that the section be held in place by therefractory lining D, so that as this part of the tuyere needs replacement it will be a convenient matter to do so during one of the periodicrelinings necessary on all cupolas. Inwardly of the tuyere section 10the lining D has a lower, downwardly angled surface G, the purpose ofwhich is to clear the downwardly rushing air directed through thetuyere, as clearly indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2.

The outer section 11 of the tuyere housing has upper and lower walls 16and 17, connected by side walls 18, and forming an intervening openingof substantially the size of the opening through the inner section 10,and, of course, substantially the same size as the opening F in thecupola wall A. In this case, however, the respective walls of thehousing section 11 are marginally flanged, as designated at 19, to fitover the wall A about the opening F and these flanges are provided withopenings for cap screws 20, or other suitable means, for firmly mountingthis section of the tuyere upon the cupola. Thus it will be appreciatedthat only the housing section 11 is actually mechanically secured inplace in the cupola and since this portion on the assembly is disposedin the relatively cool area of the wind jacket C it is so protected fromthe high temperatures within the cupola that it will not be damaged. Aswill next be described the moving parts of the tuyere are all containedwithin this permanently mounted housing section 11 and thus the periodicreplacement of the inner housing section 10 will have no bearing uponthe mounting or operation of such parts.

Extending vertically through the upper and lower walls 16 and 17, attheir centers and near their outer edges,

- is a gate pivot pin 21 upon which are pivoted gates 22 which haveintervening hinge lugs 23 to mount upon the pin. These gates 22 arerectangular in shape, of a size vertically to nicely fit between theupper and lower walls 16 and 17 and of a width such that when swungapart to the position shown in Fig. 1 these gates will substantiallycompletely close the passage to the housing section 11. It will benoted, however, in Fig. 2 that a washer 24, or other suitable means, isprovided upon the pin 21 below the hinged edges of the gates so thatthey will not drag upon the lower wall 17 as they are swung from oneposition to another. In their closed positions the gates 22 do not moveinto edge to edge alignment but flare widely apart in an inwarddirection. The outer edges 25 of the walls 16 and 17 have acorresponding shape and as a result of this arrangement the free edges26 of the gates will strike the inner surfaces of the side walls 18 asthe gates assume their closed positions and stop the movement in thisdirection. Preferably these edges 26 of the gates are slightly beveledas clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3, in order to tightly close against theinside of the walls 18. The hinge lugs 23 on the gates are so formedthat the gates may be swung inward together at the center of the housingsection 11 in order to provide the maximum opening therethrough in thefull open position of the tuyere. In a manner similar to that disclosedin my earlier application each gate 22 is here also provided with an airdeflecting vane or fin 27 which may be conveniently cast in place duringthe manufacture of the gates. As viewed from the side and as seen inFig. 2, the vanes 27 angle inwardly and downwardly from the upper edgesof the gates, near the hinge lugs 23, in order that air passing throughthe tuyere will, of necessity, strike the vanes and be deflected in adownward direction. In this case, however, the vanes 27 extend up to andflush with the upper edges of the gates 22 so that, practicallyspeaking, all of the air entering the tuyere will be so deflected, andin comparison with my previous disclosure in which the vanes arepositioned a distance below the upper edges of the gates the maximumcontrol of the air direction is thus achieved. The vanes 27 here alsohave arcuate outer edges 28 so that they will clear the adjacent wallsof the housing section 11 as the gates swing and the upper edges of thevanes are faced off horizontally at 29, parallel with the underside ofthe wall 16, in order to fit closely thereto. Also as will be noted, theouter corner portions of the vanes are beveled ofi angularly at 30 tostand flush with the edges 25 in the full open position of the gates.

It will now be understood that in their full open posi tions the gateswill admit a maximum flow of air into the cupola and in such positionsthe vanes 27 will direct this air downward, as evidenced by the arrowsin Fig. 2. It is this downward deflection of the air which I findimproves combustion and overcomes the bridging tendency of the lowertuyeres, all as mentioned hereinbefore and as pointed out in my earlierapplication. It is to be noted that the vanes 27 will have a maximumdownward deflecting action in the full open position of the tuyeregates, but that the vanes will, at all times, have a degree of suchdeflecting action except, of course, when the gates reach their fullyclosed position of Fig. 1. In the latter position the close fitting,permitted by the construction and arrangement described, willsubstantially completely close off the flow of air through the tuyere,thus enabling me to obtain etfective air control from full open to fullclosed positions, as is necessary for efiicient operation of the cupolaunder all conditions.

It is, of course, necessary that the tuyere gates be adjustable from theexterior of the cupola and for this purpose I provide an actuating rod31 slidably mounted out through the outer wall B and provided at itsextremity with a hand knob 32. This rod 31 is aligned with the center ofthe tuyere, as viewed from above, but is located a short distance belowthe level thereof, as seen in Fig. 2. The inner extremity of the rod,within the wind belt C, is flattened at 33 and is pivotally attached bya pin or bolt 34 to the outer converging extremities of a pair ofactuating links 35. These links are made from strip material and fromtheir point of attachment to the actuating rod they extend angularlyinward and upward in diverging relation to a point a short distanceoutwardly of the tuyere, where the links are twisted a quarter-turn at36 and then extended into the outer section of the tuyere adjacent thelower hinged corners of the gates 22. These gates on their outersurfaces are formed with apertured lugs 37 and the inner extremities ofthe links 35 are pivotally attached to these lugs at 38. These pivotmountings are completed by short lengths of strip material 39, spotwelded to the links and fitted across the upper sides of the lugs 37, sothat the inner extremities of the links are bifurcated where they areattached to the gates. It will now be readily under stood that anoutward pull upon the knob 32, when the gates are in any open position,will cause the links 35 to pull the gates to their closed positions ofFig. 1, whereas the gates may, of course, be opened by pushing inward onthe knob. The diverging angles of the links 35 and the formation of thelugs 37 in spaced relation to the hinged pin 2 1 provides the necessarylevcrage ;for :swinging -=the gates to andbetween all positions.Herewalso itwill-be -noted that'these actuating parts are all locatedWithin the wind jacket C so that they will not be subjected totemperatures high enough to result in damage.

Also forming part-of my present --invention-=is an improved inspectionor service door assemblysfor-the :cupola and used in association withtuyere'E, thisassembly being designated generally at H. The outer cupolawall :13 is'provided with an opening I, aligned with the openingF in:theinner'wall A, so that access canbe'had frOm-"thvoutsitle of the cupolato the tuyere for inspection and service thereof. At present suchopening is :customarily'closed byra plate which is bolted in placeand-this requires "that the plate be unbolted and placed asi'dewhilework:isbeing done, as described above. According :to my invention 1provide a door frame or casing 4'0tsubstantially'larger than the openingI and provided around'its mar'gin with suitable openings 41 for thereception of cap screws 42, or-

provided with an apertured boss 50, and itis through this boss that theaforesaid actuating rod 31 for the tuyere projects.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 4 through 6, it will be noted thatthe door 46 is not bolted or otherwise stationan'ly securedto the'frame40. In'stead thefra'me is provided at the oppositeends of the doorwith integrally cast door retainers 51 and the adjacent edges of thedoor have wedge-shaped lugs 52 adapted to drop behind thecorrespondingly angled, upwardly projecting fingers 53 on theseretainers 51. The arrangement is such that the door will, of its ownweight, tend to hold itself tightly against the face 45 of the flange44, by the wedging etfect of the lugs 52 and fingers 53, in order toseal off the opening 43, but as the parts expand, due to the effect ofthe heat in the cupola, the door may work itself up, if necessary, inorder to free itself without warping or buckling, as will be readilyunderstood. In addition, the door is provided at one side with aprojecting apertured hinge lug 54 and the same is slidably and pivotallymounted upon a vertical hinge pin 55 carried by spaced upper and lowerears 56 and 57 cast upon the frame 40. In the closed position of thedoor, seen in Fig. 4, there is sufiicient space between the lug 54 andthe upper car 56 so that the door may be bodily lifted until the lugs 52clear the retainers 51, whereupon the door may be swung about the axisof the pin 55 to the open position indicated by the dot-dash lines inboth Figs. 1 and 4. The door may be provided with any convenient form ofhandle, such as that illustrated at 58 in Fig. 4, to lift and swing itabout as necessary in this operation.

When the door is opened and swung back toward the adjacent wall of thecupola it is desirable that the door be retained in its lifted positionand for this purpose I provide the frame 4%, at the hinge side, with anend projection 59, from which there outwardly extends a horizontal rest6% and a shorter stop boss 61. The rest 60 is located at an elevationsuch that the lower edge of the lug 52 on that side will come to rest asthe door is fully opened in order to support the door in its elevatedposition. The boss 61 will, of course, engage the face of the door, asseen in Fig. 1, to limit the open position so that the door will standat substantially 180 degrees from its closed position.

It will thus be noted that I have provided an inspection door which isvery convenient to operate and which will, at all times, maintain atightly closed condition to prevent :6 airt-leakage fromthewind belt.Inorderto fit the assent .Ibly to-cupolaszof 'klitferent t-ypes andsizes it may be met:- essarytoadjust the-length of the links 35 toaccommo- :date the-assembly to wind beltsof different widths. As seen inFig. 2 this may be conveniently provided for by forming the outerextremitiesof the links with a plurality of openings 62- for theaccommodation of the pivot conneetion 34. Thus Jirilrsmay be provided ofa maximum length-;and -during the installation any excess length may bereadilyicut away.

-.It ris understoodthat suitable modifications may be made in-.thestructure :as disclosed, provided 'such modifications 'come within'thespirit-and scope-of the appended claims. Having lnow-therefore fullydescribed and illustrated my invention, what I claim to 'be new anddesire to protect by lsetters Patent-is:

1. Ina cupola tuyere of the character described, a -tuyerebox having anair passage for directing air from a cupola windbelt into the combustionchamber, said box having upper and lowerw-alls and connectingside walls,apair of tuyeregates-hingedon a common vertical axis at the center ofthe box and swingable on the hinge from abuttingopenzpositions to widespaced closed positions, vanes-angularly positioned on the gates andspanning the spaces-between the open doors and opposite side wallsq-of-the box to deflect'theair downward as it passes inward 'throughthebox, .pivot lugs on the gates adjacent their hinged ends, links pivotedto-the lugs and extending outward,and-.an actuating rod'pivoted to theouter ends of -the 'links and operative from the-exterior of the cupola-for swinging the gates-to and between their opened andclosedtpositions.

2. In :a cupola tuyere of the character described, a tuyere box havingan airpassage for directing air from a cupola wind belt into thecombustion chamber, said box having upper and lower walls and connectingside walls, a pair of tuyere gates and means hinging the gate in thecenter of the box to swing from abutting open positions to wide spacedclosed positions, vanes angularly positioned on the gates and operativeto deflect the air downward as it passes inward through the box, pivotlugs on the gates adjacent their hinged ends, links pivoted to the lugsand extending outward, an actuating rod pivoted to the outer ends of thelinks and operative from the exterior of the cupola for swinging thegates to and between their opened and closed positions, the said linksdiverging to pass on opposite sides of the hinged ends of the gates.

3. A cupola tuyere for installation in a cupola having spaced inner andouter casing walls defining an intervening wind belt, a lining withinthe inner wall, and said inner wall having a tuyere opening; said tuyerecomprising a two section tuyere box having an outer section secured tothe inner casing outside of the opening and disposed wholly within thewind belt, air controlling gates movably mounted in said outer section,and an inner box section disposed wholly within said inner casing wallin the lining and inside of the said opening in the wall.

4. A cupola tuyere for installation in a cupola having spaced inner andouter casing walls defining an intervening wind belt, a lining withinthe inner wall, and said inner wall having a tuyere opening; said tuyerecomprising a two section tuyere box having an outer section secured tothe inner casing about the opening and disposed wholly within the windbelt, air controlling gates movably mounted in said outer section, andan inner box section supported in the lining about the opening in theinner wall and supported wholly by said lining for easy replacement whenburned.

5. A cupola tuyere for installation in a cupola having spaced inner andouter casing walls defining an intervening wind belt, a lining withinthe inner wall, and said inner wall having a tuyere opening; said tuyerecomprising a two section tuyere box having an outer section secured tothe inner casing about the opening and disposed wholly within the windbelt, air controlling gates movably mounted in said outer section, vaneson the gates for deflecting the air downward and inward, an inner boxsection supported by the lining about the opening in the casing wall,and said lining having an inwardly and downwardly angled surface belowthe inner box section to clear the downwardly deflected air from thetuyere.

6. In a tuyere assembly for a cupola having inner and outer wallsdefining an intervening wind belt and said walls having alignedopenings, 2 tuyere positioned about the opening in the inner wall andhaving swingable air controlling gates, an inspection door frame fittedabout the opening in the outer wall and having an opening registeringwith the opening therein, door retainers on the frame at opposite sidesof the opening and having upwardly projecting fingers, and a door fittedover the opening and having oppositely projecting beveled lugs fittingwithin said fingers with a downwardly wedging fit.

7. In a tuyere assembly for a cupola having inner and outer wallsdefining an intervening wind belt and said Walls having alignedopenings, a tuyere positioned about the opening in the inner wall andhaving swingable air controlling gates, an inspection door frame fittedabout the opening in the outer wall and having an opening registeringwith the opening therein, a door fitted over the opening in the frame,actuating means for the tuyere gates including an outwardly extendingreciprocating rod located below the level of the openings in the walls,and the door frame having an opening to slidably support the rod foractuation from the exterior of the cupola.

8. In a tuyere assembly for a cupola having inner and outer wallsdefining an intervening wind belt and said Walls having alignedopenings, a tuyere positioned about the opening in the inner wall andhaving swingable air controlling gates with vanes for deflecting airinward and downward from the wind belt, an inspection door frame fittedabout the opening in the outer wall and having an opening registeringwith the opening therein, a doorfitted over the opening in the frame andretainer means for holding the door tightly over the opening, a hingerod supported on the frame at one side of the door, and the door havinga hinge lug both slidably and pivotally mounted on the rod so that thedoor may be lifted clear of the retainer means and swung aside clear ofthe opening.

9. In a tuyere assembly for a cupola having inner and outer Wallsdefining an intervening wind belt and said walls having alignedopenings, a tuyere positioned about the opening in the inner wall andhaving swingable air controlling gates with vanes for deflecting airinward and downward from the wind belt, an inspection door frame fittedabout the opening in the outer wall and having an opening registeringwith the opening therein, door retainers on the frame at opposite sidesof the opening and having upwardly projecting fingers, a door fittedover the opening and having oppositely projecting beveled lugs fittingwithin said fingers with a downwardly wedging fit, a vertical hinge rodsupported on the frame at one side of the door, the door having a hingelug both slidably and pivotally mounted on the rod so that the door maybe lifted clear of the retainer fingers and swung aside clear of theopening, and a rest on the frame for engaging and holding the door in anelevated position as it is swung aside from the opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS757,949 Mylin et al. Apr. 19, 1904 1,668,133 Weichel et a1 May 1, 1928FOREIGN PATENTS 300,405 Great Britain Nov. 15, 1928 384,042 GreatBritain Dec. 1, 1932

